For me, the new year symbolizes a fresh start, full of promise and hope. As the busyness of Christmas draws to a close, it is a time to reflect on past accomplishments and failures. It is a time to evaluate myself, and try to be a better person; a new me.

I still struggle with finding the right balance in my life. My husband and I had a big discussion about this over the Christmas break. I find it difficult to relax, until my work is done. The problem is I am a perfectionist, and the work never seemed to be done. My “TO DO” list sometimes takes priority over my family relationships, especially the one with my husband.

Last year, as a family, we created a mission statement. This year, I want to play my part to make it a reality. But how? Several sites I frequent have discussed the idea of thinking about one word that describes the new year 2011. It could be what you hope for, what you are working on, or what you think the new year will bring. For me, the word that comes to mind is BALANCE.

Here’s a few things I am going to try this year:

80/20 Rule:

20 % of a given thing, will bring 80% of the results. This year, I will focus 80% of my time and energy on my Family Mission statement. This may mean saying no to people in my life, especially extended family members or our church community. Other times, it may be accepting something is “good enough” and not try to seek perfection.

Limit multi-tasking:

Many times I try to do too many things at the same time with disastrous reasons. Often, I am not truly present to my family members. I give my children a hard time about not listening, however I am just as guilty. This year, I will focus on people over things.

Ditch the list:

This year, I will ditch my “to do” list. I have bought my husband and myself a pair of old fashion planners. If it is important, prayer time, quiet time, couple time, and family fun time, I will schedule it.

So what’s your New Year’s resolution? Do you have a word to describe your 2011?

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About Mary @ a simple twist of faith

I am:
a rookie at blogging, just started my blog in May 2010 when I became a full-time Mom.
a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, a listener of the Holy Spirit, and a Catholic.
Pro-Life, , Pro-Woman and an adoption advocate
wife to a wonderful husband for 12 years
proud and grateful mother to two beautiful daughters ages 5 and 3.
a coffee drinking fool, so I can keep up with my little girls
a home schooling novice using my kindergartener as a guinea pig
a runner, it keeps me sane and in my size 8 pants
an avid reader , now of Beatrix Potter's books
a former workaholic & fashion follower
a lover of chocolate, and wine, and the finer things in life, although I cannot afford them anymore!

8 Responses to A New Year, a new me?

wow that picture is awesome.
talk about balance.
Still working on my word for the year. Last year the word was grief and risk yes that is two words but in starting my blog we also had to go through grief of losing loved ones. It is was a risk to start a blog and be not sure what it would look like or how it would present itself. Not knowing if anyone really wanted to read anything that was written. God has blessed it.
Grief was near in the process of losing ‘one through death’ and two through misunderstanding and pain of relationships. I hope and pray that 2011 will be a better year for us all.

Thanks for sharing these great thoughts! I love your word for 2011 and you have inspired me to try to think of one word too. And it’s funny that you’re ditching your to-do list; I think I’m at the stage where I need to resurrect mine! We just keep trying, right?

I’m a list-maker, too. But I found that after adding a few kids to my routine, my lists weren’t getting done every day…and it left me frustrated and feeling overwhelmed. So I decided not to make lists at all! Well, that backfired because then I just floundered around doing a little of this and a little of that, just piddling my day away. I *think* I’ve finally found a happy medium. I make a list, but I’m only allowed to put 5 things on it (and no 1a. 1b. 1c. kind of cheating either!). It worked for me! (Although I must admit that sometimes “Take a shower” is one of my 5 things!)

And for the record, I think you already do a pretty stellar job balancing. Being a SAHM is not as easy as it sounds!

Bridget,
This year I am using my planner instead of the “TO DO” list. If I need to do something, I am scheduling it for a specific date and time IN PENCIL. Using the planner by home school helped me last semester, so I thought I would incorporate all tasks and activites on it this year.

It has been a really challenging year for me with being by myself for seven months with 4 kids, selling the house, finding a new one, moving and settling into a new place.
What a year! I still feel exhausted and I’m trying to find a balance in my new life. I put myself and my relationship with my husband last for this several months. Because of being tired I became very negative.
So this year I will try to find a balance in everything I do, I will try to focus more on me and my relation with God, my husband and my kids.
Thanks for this note ,Mary. You are always an answer to my struggles.
Wishing you a very good and balanced year!